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I actually started this challenge (my first!) a few days ago and had planned to just play it myself, but then after an epic season with Chester where we narrowly missed out on the playoffs by 1 point(!) my computer decided to corrupt my game and so I had to start all over again. Just had the first game of the season and demolished harrogate 7-0! fingers crossed for the season. playing as Chester again by the way.

League
still nt scoring many goals looks like the lad wanted to win the cup and forgot about the league until the final couple of games i am glad they can end seasons strong because if they didnt id be relegated by now

Year 8 goals (2019/20) were;
* L1 consolidation - Without a doubt, and then some!
* Resign Geoff Pritchett - Nope, good compensation though
* Tighten up defensively, while keeping attacking potency - Reasonably so, still conceding a lot, but not as many

League Table!!!
After another slow start, the league really kicked into high gear, thanks to the unbelivable play of 16 yr old Ray Holland.
We finally hit top spot with one game to go, and needing only a draw to win the league on goal difference we end up winning the game and grabbing our first ever piece of silverware.
It was nearly the 2nd piece, because we finally had our first ever proper cup run and Wembley appearance due to our runners-up finish in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final, won by Chesterfield who were on an unbelievable run of form. They had won 5 straight going into the game, won the Final and then another 5 straight after, for 11 wins out of 11 in total. That is when we played them at home in the penultimate game of the season, snapping their streak, assuring promotion and putting ourselves in the box seat for the title.

During December it became clear that a] we were not going to be able to keep hold of Geoff Pritchett (YP 2a) and b] Ray Holland was more than equal to the task of taking over (along with 2 other pacier young FCs who know where the net is).
So, I offered out GP for 4m (he was valued 725k) and Championship Derby came in offering 2m in cash, 30% future profit clause and a friendly. No-one else was interested, so I accepted and he was off on Jan 1st. I later sold the clause back to Derby for 392k, for a total transfer fee of 2.392m.

Geoff PritchettReport - Selfish and inconsistent, but a player nonetheless. Happy to cash in tbh.Transfer Offer

What made it very easy to pull the trigger on the sale though was this.........

His performances and goalscoring record were just immense.
44 league goals in 41 appearance, with another 11 cup goals will go down as one of my personal FM highlights. For the leagues level, his acceleration and finishing were just too much for most defenses. My midfield played through balls galore and they profited with many assists too. I am currently trying to teach him "Likes To Beat Offside Trap" (failed once, trying again) to make him even more dangerous.

3 of my coaches have upgraded their views on him from potential good Premiership FC to leading Premiership FC.

During the course of the season all of the big clubs have popped up as interested on his transfer info screen, but so far my outrageous price tag has scared them off. Only a matter of time.

Youth Intake
Season 8 youth intake was a nice change. No FCs for the first time ever! Several decent prospects in both defense and midfield, but certainly no immediate impact players. What might be a good sign is for the first time in 8 Youth Team vs Youth Candidates games the candidates won. Only downside is that John Brunt (YP 8c) tore his ACL in the game and is out for 10-11 months.

My 2nd youth facilities upgrade began soon after the title win and will cost 1.2m and be done by late November.
Add to that a 568k seat conversion project that the board began on their own, which will be done by Dec 31st.
Not overly happy about the seat conversion project. Our ground is only 6,600, of which 2,000 were seats and we are already at max ground expansion size. This new project turns us all seater at 6,600, but we have already outgrown this. I would have much preferred a new stadium, but they ignored me.
This is going to hinder me severely for quite a few seasons.

In the middle of all of this, we went through a board takeover and I got to meet my new boss. Alrighty then!

I've started again. Once again I'm Chester and I have a bigger squad than last time with a few different faces. Arranged about 30 friendlies with an average of about £5k a game I reckon. So I should hopefully have £150k from those by the end of pre-season.

If they offered £12.5m, I'd snap their hand off. However, I'd try and get loads of clauses in there. Like appearance and goals clauses and a profit clause and international clauses/clauses. So if you added it all up, he'd go for about £15m.

If they offered £12.5m, I'd snap their hand off. However, I'd try and get loads of clauses in there. Like appearance and goals clauses and a profit clause and international clauses/clauses. So if you added it all up, he'd go for about £15m.

Agreed, although truth be told I would imagine one or both of the following will be the case;
* Their offer will be non-negotiable (although obviously I could reject)
* I probably won't get that chance as if I was the chairman I would accept before it ever got to the lowly manager

Chelsea sniffing around now too, but they did this at the end of last season. Hoping to get another 1.5-2 seasons out of him before we reach that point.

Really stuggling beginning of this season (third), lost first 3 games, then drew the next 2. The two draws, both been leading with a few minutes to go and conceded late goals. Might have to go 6-4-0 in the last few minutes!

Got more kids playing now, lost couple of my best (older already at the club) players who refused to sign new contracts.

I got thinking last night and really, the best way to approach this would be to stay in the BSN/BSS for a number of seasons whilst getting a good cup run every year. Then, as the improvements start and the youth players come through, start progressing up the league system rapidly.

For myself, my aim is to and I've achieved that so far, tie down all players at the club to long enough contracts. As time goes on, they'll be replaced by cheaper and hopefully better youth team players. The back up players will then play all my money spinning pre-season friendlies that keep the club coffers good enough. Currently I have 33 players. One great League 2 rated prospect that was already at the club. I'm spending near on £8,500 a week on wages. When my youth candidates come through, regardless of their ability, they'll be signed up for three seasons on pro deals so the ones who aren't good enough will play in the money spinning pre-season games.

I got thinking last night and really, the best way to approach this would be to stay in the BSN/BSS for a number of seasons whilst getting a good cup run every year. Then, as the improvements start and the youth players come through, start progressing up the league system rapidly.

For myself, my aim is to and I've achieved that so far, tie down all players at the club to long enough contracts. As time goes on, they'll be replaced by cheaper and hopefully better youth team players. The back up players will then play all my money spinning pre-season friendlies that keep the club coffers good enough. Currently I have 33 players. One great League 2 rated prospect that was already at the club. I'm spending near on £8,500 a week on wages. When my youth candidates come through, regardless of their ability, they'll be signed up for three seasons on pro deals so the ones who aren't good enough will play in the money spinning pre-season games.

This is very similar to how my career started out (4 years in the BSS), but I differed in playing staff approach. I threw in my new youths immediately after I got them, they either sunk or swam and they began progressing well due to first team starts.
I let go of my original guys as soon as I could (when a new cheap youth came in) meaning wages were under 2k for a while. On my phone right now, but will try and screenshot later. As long as I survived relegation and my youths began developing, I tried to save money to get the upgrades going ASAP.

Once the first batch or two of youths were up and running, things took off (albeit with a lot of luck on my side with the odd top quality youth).

Padders, if you've read through the thread, which I'm sure you have. You'll realise the third season is probably one of the hardest as it's when you have to probably make more of a big jump by giving more youngsters a chance. If you've survived that, hopefully you'll start to get the youngsters improving to make more progress.

Padders, if you've read through the thread, which I'm sure you have. You'll realise the third season is probably one of the hardest as it's when you have to probably make more of a big jump by giving more youngsters a chance. If you've survived that, hopefully you'll start to get the youngsters improving to make more progress.

You can't. You have to take over on the 25th of June 2012 or as close to and use the squad that you inherit. Wait patiently and hopefully of unearthing the next Wayne Rooney at BSN/BSS level in your first youth intake. Only to be disappointed that they're all rubbish.

Yeah cool just wanted to clarify before I start, cheers for the advice, Ill keep everyone updated but Im not going to post photos on here or put as much detail Im doing unoffically for my entertainment.

I think my players enjoy standing out in the cold . I've had 3 pick up colds/flus etc etc. Yet I'm sending them home. They have been at different times though. So maybe they're taking it in turns to stay extra in the ice bath in the middle of winter .

Decided to give this ago after reading about it for the last 3 or 4 years.........given that im usually the type of manager who scours the globe, scouts everywhere i can, looks at teams all over the world for signings, this is very different style of play!

After holidaying i looked at the clubs available and originally was swaying towards Cambridge city, on the basis that my favourite ever FM game was taking Cambridge Utd to champions league glory in FM07. However looking at the squad they barely had 20 players, and although they are due to move to a new stadium i wasnt sure this was a good thing as it means unlikely to move again (to a bigger stadium!) for a long time.

I was surprised to find that on the list on the front page, no one has taken FC United very far, thought they would be the most popular choice! And so it is, i have gone with FC United.

Have just about enough players to make up a squad for the first season, with a reasonable spread of positions and one or two good attacking players. Asked the board on day one to increase spending on junior coaching and they oblidged.

Just running through pre-season now, and after 4 defeats in money spinners, first "real" friendly i managed a 3 all draw against AFC Wimbledon, so we can score goals at least!

As mentioned above, very disappointed with my third season, however as NF says, it may not have been a bad thing with the third season being quite tough historically. I'm very worried that I it doesn't appear that many of this years Youth Candidates were any good. Fingers crossed they turn out okay.

I'm the boss . Although I was worried for a minute. Michael Powell, one of my centre backs has been performing great all season, as a defender and a goal threat from corners. He picked up 5 yellows and got a one game ban. I played after his ban and he picked up a yellow. I thought nothing of it until he picked up another yellow and went off, levelling the sides again. In the end we lost. I fined him as he cost us basically. He was unhappy, "We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" . He backed down and I win .

Click on any English side, then click on England as a nation and then it's the second tab across. Click that, scroll down and under Blue Square south summary it'll have something like Regional Premier Divs and the teams below. Choose any one of those 6.

No, you can still do it. Gone into my youth intake and still top but I've lost my last 2 games. I wanted a decent prospect striker and I got two. I'll do everything at the end of the season. Now time to go watch the rest of the Chelsea game.

Can I change my manager's name to McKenna? I have 3 players in my side that are called McKenna. None are related . I also have an English/Cypriot national in my youth intake. He doesn't look like he'll ever make it but I'm determined to try and get him to play for Cyprus.

My FC United career started off not to badly, 10 games in and sitting comfortable in 8th. Like most others the biggest problem in the first season is keeping enough players fit enough to field a decent team! So many fixtures and a squad of around 20 players dont mix well! Some of my lads seem to like a curry and a few pints on a sunday because it takes them most of the week to get fitness back up!

Unfortunately my promising 19yr old striker, who had scored 4 goals in his first 7 games just had his leg broken in training Thats him done for 7 months, and leaving me with my 31yr old journey man up front, and a 16yr old back up whose finishing and composure add up to a grand total of "6"........

In other news my 16yr old DM prospect became the clubs youngest ever goalscorer. So thats one record at least!

So I took over on the 25th of June. Looking at the squad, I felt we could achieve a play-off place at least. We were in and around the top 3 all season and from the 25th of October, up until the final game of the season we were top. See screenshot a few posts above this. Infact, there were a few times during the season where we had a 5/7/9 point gap over 2nd place. With 6 or games to go, we could have had the league won. However, we don't do things the easy way and we struggled as we conceded a 3 goal lead and a 2 goal lead in 2 successive games before losing 2-1 at home to a promotion rival iirc. Not too be put off, we managed to stay infront of the pack, just and going into the final game of the season, we had secured our play-off place. A slip up though and had any one of 4 other teams won, we could have gone 4th, even 5th in extreme circumstances. We slipped up, maybe it's pressure I don't know. We lost 4-1 at home to relegation threatened Boston United whilst AFC Telford and Altrincham both picked up 3 and 1 points respectively to make us finish 3rd.

We drew Histon in the play-off semi-final with the first game being at their place. We managed to nick a 1-0 win and at home in the second leg it was fairly comfortable as we won 2-0. In the final we would play Altrincham. A bogey side for us you could say considering we drew at home with them and lost at their place. We were away in the final as I believe the rule is that you play the highest placed finalist. We managed to win 1-0 with Chris Simm scoring the only goal of the game in the 40th minute. 3 minutes after Jamie Rainford missed a penalty for us.

So yeah We Are Going UP!!! It's actually my only promotion on FM12 iirc. And one of my first since FM10.

FA Cup: 3rd Qualifying Round Replay, where we lost on penalties to Marine.

FA Trophy: 3rd Qualifying Round Replay where we lost to Curzon Ashton. We missed 2 penalties in the 70th minute before they nicked it 5 minutes before the end. It was my second string who played both games though.

Key Players

Jamie Rainford - This man was on fire in the first 14 league games having scored 12 goals. He only got another 7 throughout the rest of the season though which somewhat stopped our free scoring mentality.

Chris Simm - Jamie's partner in crime. Despite more injuries, Chris overhauled Jamie's tally by getting the winning goal in the play-off final. Suffered with a few injuries and consistency, much like Rainford.

Jeff Smith - This guy was tremendous. Nominated in the player of the season award. Didn't play every game due to his age. 14 assists, will be key next season.

Michael Powell - One half of my centre back duo. Was a goal scoring menace in the first 14 games as he got 6 goals. He was a threat from set pieces, mainly corners. Opposition teams must have wised up as he only got another 1 for the rest of the season.

Liam Dolman - Him and Powell were immense for the first half of the season. Not letting many get past them. The usual mid-season inconsistency meant we conceded more in the second half. Still a good player.

Transfers - As you can see, I was clean but the previous manager wasn't.

Finances - We were about £260k in the black at the start of the season. Now, we're about £125k in the red. I hope my under 18s and reserves are ready to play some games.

Youth Intake

The youth intake was ok as we managed to get two players who are ready to fight for a first team place. There are also 2 or 3 other players at the club before I joined that must have come through the academy as well. Here are the two that I got.

Congrats on the promotion Notts, great to manage it first season even with Chester! Makes it a bigger challenge to stay up in season 2 but hopefully youl manage!

I am heading towards the end of my first season, sitting comfortable in 10th, to far off to make the playoffs but should end up mid table which will exceed expectations. Looking forward to first youth intake shortly, could do with a defensive prospect of any kind as we are light in that area. For season two it seems clear i might need to tone down the energy of my tactic as my players are costantly low on energy. Also need to figure out how to defend against damn set pieces!

I haven't been able to play as much as I would have liked over the past few days, and reading everyones updates has made me jealous!

So I finally get a little time tonight and even though I am only at January in my first season in the Championship I just got some news I had to share.

My seating conversion project was finished on Dec 31st 2021, so now our quaint little stadium is 6,600 all seater (during the first half of the season while the work was going on our capacity was just 1,620!). So the day after it finishes I head into the board room to test the water on a new stadium (hovering over the greyed out stadium expansion request gives the message the stadium is already at its maximum expansion possibility) and I got this answer to my surprise.

So I head back to my news items and find this!!!

Holy moly!!

So in short I am going to get a brand spanking new stadium in around 18 months. The loan works out to be 98k a month for 168 months (14 years). No idea yet on what the increase income will be with increased attendances, but I am loving this.
Granted my finances are potentially going to be a mess (currently losing around 300k a month, balance is down below 1m again), but this was a step that had to be made at some point and now I can adjust (sell players) if needed.

I love having new Stadiums built, a real sign that you are doing a great job and the club is progressing

I finished my fourth season last night (will update league positions and all that later at home)

Not a great season again, needing a couple of wins in the final few games to secure safety

I started reasonably well though, with only being a few points off the play offs before Christmas, then as usual, come Christmas and New Year with the huge number of games to be played in a short period of time, I think I only won 1 in game in 8 or 9! Very frustrating and disappointing.

I haven't been able to play as much as I would have liked over the past few days, and reading everyones updates has made me jealous!

So I finally get a little time tonight and even though I am only at January in my first season in the Championship I just got some news I had to share.

My seating conversion project was finished on Dec 31st 2021, so now our quaint little stadium is 6,600 all seater (during the first half of the season while the work was going on our capacity was just 1,620!). So the day after it finishes I head into the board room to test the water on a new stadium (hovering over the greyed out stadium expansion request gives the message the stadium is already at its maximum expansion possibility) and I got this answer to my surprise.

So I head back to my news items and find this!!!

Holy moly!!

So in short I am going to get a brand spanking new stadium in around 18 months. The loan works out to be 98k a month for 168 months (14 years). No idea yet on what the increase income will be with increased attendances, but I am loving this.
Granted my finances are potentially going to be a mess (currently losing around 300k a month, balance is down below 1m again), but this was a step that had to be made at some point and now I can adjust (sell players) if needed.

BOOOOO!!!! I Wanted a new stadium oh well i gues 50,000 Stadium will have to do with under soil heating

Phew, Feb 2nd and the transfer window is shut and I still have my Ray Holland!
The Man Utd boss has attended 3 or 4 games this past January and for the first time I was worried that a bid might come in.
Nothing yet, so I have him for another 6 months at least!

and so it began. With a fairly thing squad it was always going to be a difficult season, the board expect us to avoid relegation, i felt we could go mid table.

After a great start we faded, and the second half of the season was a model of consistent inconsistency (my league position never varied by more than about 5 places during that period!). Ended up 12th, just missing a top half spot but still well within the mid table area.

James Spencer - Rated by my Ass Man as our squads best player, and has excellents stats for this level. He was our only ever present playing in every single game and doing a solid job, particularly given some of the poor defending in front of him. Likely to be a solid keeper for at least a couple more seasons/levels

Andrew Farrimond - Back up goalie who didnt get a single appearance. Looks every inch the backup it has to be said.........will stay around another season.

Defenders

Kyle Jacobs - Our first choice RB for most of the season did ok, avoided injuries and will hold that position for now with no RB youth prospects around

Paul Armstrong - Backup in the RB position again served ok as backup but nothing more. Doesnt look likely to ever develop further and his performances were not great when he had his chances. RB is a slot i am hoping for something in next years intake!

Lee Neville - As the only LB in the squad had a heavy workload which resulted in him playing when below fitnes, which probably impacted on his overall performances. Prone to the odd indivual mistake but is enough to "hold the fort" for now. A decent prospect LB came in the first intake so will give Neville a rest and some competition next season.

Dean Stott - Versatile player who was one of our main centrebacks for the season, rated as our best DC by ass man, and his versatility will ensure he is likely around in the squad for a few seasons

Adam Jones - Second DC most of the time, decent aerial presence but slower than a week in the jail......at 27 he isnt going to improve but if he can keep up his current level can just about be part of the team

Karl Munroe - Verteran backup centre half. Likely to last one more season whilst my youth intake defenders develope a bit then be on his way.

Richard Battersby - Another versatile player who covered all manner of positions without ever holding down a spot. Another veteran but his multi position ability may keep him around as backup

Midfield

Greg Stones - One of our best performers. Sat in the DMC slot most of the season and biggest plus was his amazing goals return. 13 goals from that position was not expected, even if i did have him going forward a bit. Worth noting that he scored 4 from corners and 1 from a free kick though, but 8 from open play is still excellent.

Jon Diloon - One of two youth team DMC at the club when i arrived, played the odd game and became our youngest ever goalscorer. Also a fair few sub appearances as my MC positions work hard and are always tired. Not a huge prospect but may develop to a squad player

Brett Pilkington - The other youth DMC rated as a better player and slightly better prospect that Dillon, but similar story in terms of odd games along with a decent number of sub appearances. Stays as a squad player

Mathew Tierney - Rated as a really good prospect but his performances were very poor. Played mostly in MC slot and his lack of physical stats are always going to make that difficult for him. Decent mental stats, so if my formation changes to ahve a less hard working MC and more of a play maker type, he might yet step into an important roll.

Nicky Platt - Club captain and best rated outfield player when i arrived. Ex Liverpool man produced solid performances from the middle of the park, both working hard and chipping in with enough assists, considering my tactic mostly focuses on width for attacking

Jake Cottrell - CM partner for Platt and also some good stats. Lacking a bit physically but will remain in his place for next season and at 24 needs to kick on

Matthew Bolland - A moaner and poor stats, although actually managed decent average ratings when he did play. One of two players i am allowing to leave at the end of the season when out of contract as he is constantly unhappy

Wingers

Daniel Grimshaw - Although not a natural winger this guy ended up playing a lot of the season at AML as he was the closest thing we had when injuries hit others. Lackihng technically to be fit for the roll but in a pinch he did a job. Also covered the odd game at LB and even in centre midfield

Carlos Roca - The star man for me, as well as having the best name in the squad! Played in the AMR role and his 16 goals and 15 assists were excellent and earned him a nomination for the BSN player of the year. Towards the end of the season switched him to the left as an inverted wide man and he performed great there as well. At 28 another couple of great seasons in him yet im hoping. His flair and dribbling skills make him a huge threat at this level

Matty Wolfenden - A good wide player equally capable on both sides, he suffered by missing over 2 months with seperate injuries. When fit he was a great sub to have and started at left wing a number of times. Again his versatility will keep him around and hopefully can be an impact player

Astley Mulholland - Worst rated player in the squad and it showed. He is the second player who i am allowing to leave at the seasons end.

Strikers

Mike Norton - Experienced striker with good mental stats, didnt play as many games as i expected due to streaky form by both him and others, but 11 goals is a decent enough return. Will need more goals than that out of SC role next season so remains to be seen whether Norton is first choice

Jay Walcott - Started the season as out first choice as good starting stats and good promise. After 4 goals in 7 matches a broken leg put him out for 6 months. Although he returned towards the run in, he never quite got his form back. With the SC role up for grabs next season much will depend on his pre-season

Simon Adkins - The surprise of the season, at 16 was expected to be 3rd choice striker and used very rarely. The injury to Walcott changed that and Adkins found himself with some real playing time and he took his chance with 11 goals. His goals to game ration is almost identical to Norton, despite his very poor stats. Also capable of playing wide but reality of his poor attributes mean he is likely to not be first choice next season.

Youth Intake

Was pretty happy, 2 GK came which will add cover as we only had 2 at the club, one looks like he has a chance to become decent. Also got a DL which was vital as only one in the squad. I had said i hoped for defense prospects and as well as the LB who is a good prospect also a DC who is in the top 3 or 4 prospects. At only 15 he made his first team debut and i am hoping to use him sparingly in season 2 to get him ready to be a regular in season 3.

3 best prospects however,

3) Andy Flanagan (ST) - Already well covered considering i play a lone striker, but this lad will get some game time and rated as a very good prospect

2) Lee Bishop (DM) - a bit annoying as i am top heavy in DM and centre mids in general but he looks a good player already and will develop into a first teamer i believe

1) James O'Brien (AMRC) - YP1 - This could be my rented mule.....this lad looks pretty special already at 15, good spread of attributes and rated by my Ass Man as a top prospect. Gave him his first team Debut at 15yrs old and he scored on it! Played another couple of games as well. Best position is AMC but i dont use this role. Looks equally good as a winger but being "left only" footy and yet being only able to play on the right is annoying. Could retrain but instead im going to play him on the AMR slot as a cuts inside type, and do the same on the other side with Roca. Barring injury he could be the one that pushes us up towards playoffs.

Yeah, due to what teams could come up, you can be moved accordingly so that everything is how it should be. There must have been a few teams further south than you that came up this season which has meant you've moved.

For those that made it into the BSP in time for the 2013-2014 season, how much did your turnover increase by for the start of the season. last year it was £1.5m or close to that by the end of the season. In pre-season so far it's already at around half that.

Heading towards the midpoint in season 2 for me, and my team are still woefully inconsistent, still cant defend set pieces......still mid table! Going to need a real push in the second half of the season to make a playoff challenge! May need a tactical rethink as well.......

Heading towards the midpoint in season 2 for me, and my team are still woefully inconsistent, still cant defend set pieces......still mid table! Going to need a real push in the second half of the season to make a playoff challenge! May need a tactical rethink as well.......

Yeah that is what I can't seem to fix! One week I can beat a team in the top 3, the following week lose to a team in the bottom 3, very frustrating!

A little 'change of pace' post here and to give a little insight into my overly analytical (re: anal) approach to things sometimes

Below is a screenshot of how I 'wasted' sometime at work this morning analyzing my current squad of YP tagged players.

What I have done here is attach a value to each player for their current ability (CA) and potential ability (PA), based on their coach report given by my best equipped coach to do this (the coach with the highest Judging Ability and Judging Potential attributes). Luckily for me this coach also has a coaching style of 'General', meaning he gives opinions on all outfield players (some coaches have coaching styles of Defending or Attacking, which limits their coaching report opinions to players of that particular nature).

Anyway.........
The reason I did this is because during my first Championship season I did not focus at all on progressing young players, it was all about putting out the best XI each week to scrap for survival points. I have indirectly developed some players as they either were first team players or they came in to cover games, but the development area of this challenge was knowingly neglected this season to maximize survival chances.

This spreadsheet exercise was done to bring the need for development back into the fore and to help me clarify who needs what kind of development and who is surplus to requirements these days.

The values assigned for CA and PA can be found in the key on the right hand side of the screenshot and reflect the different opinions given by the coach in the coach report.

I ordered the entries as follows;
First by 'Difference', which means those players with the most progression need (the biggest difference between their current ability and their potential ability) are highest.
Second by 'Potential', so that if two or more players have the same difference between their CA and PA, the highest PA players appear at the top.

So, the list reads from top to bottom as those with the greatest need for development at the top.
Those who are already developed at the bottom.

Doing this exercise how helped me immensely as I noted the following about my situation;
* I have 7 of my 10 outfield players listed as Championship quality. This I tag due my policy of 'if they are old enough, they are good enough. I will often have 15 and 16 year olds running around for me and they have developed as the club as progressed.
* I missed the boat on Jon Gibson. He has been with me 6 years, has not progressed and is still listed as decent Championship level potential. I need to get him games (loaned out) desperately next year or sell him.
* Excluding Ray Holland (who is an exception to most any rule you create) I have not developed a player into a Championship level for the past 4 youth intakes. Obviously they have not had as much time to develop, but I would also say I have leant more towards best XI each game than rotating in youth level kids for experience. I will look to change this next year.
* I have 4 or 5 players whose potential is now below an acceptable level for a Championship team and as long as squad depth allows I should look to release or sell.
* My recent upgrades to youth recruitment network (and increased club reputation) seem to be paying off as my top 5 development projects are from my past two youth intakes. Trowbridge looks especially nice, although he needs retraining from DM to MC to fit into my 442 formation.
* The players highlighted in green are my current first team XI if all are available. The three weak outfield players (my current GK is weak and was not even YP tagged) play at DL, DC & MC. This means I am going to spotlight Trowbridge, Henderson and Jake Jones as my main development projects going forward as they can directly replace them as (if) they progress as my coach reports indicate they could.
* I need a GK desperately!! Dunwell has potential to be a decent Championship GK, but he is currently not good. I loaned him out this year, but it has not really kick-started things. I could drop him in the first team occassionally, but my already woeful defensive record might crash the game if I did! lol

So, there is my plan going forward!
A few end of season report spoilers in there, but oh well. Hoping to finish the season (3 games left) and put the update together tonight or tomorrow.

Hi, we're Chester FC and we don't do draws. 7 games in, 4 wins, 3 losses. Either winning games comfortably or being well beaten. It could actually help get into the play-offs if we continue. Oh and Tommy McKenna .

I've just got my second youth intake and again it's a decent one. I've only won 4 games since November. So come the end of the season, I may have to take the risk and get rid of some of the senior players.

I've just been given my provisional budgets for next season and it's not good. No transfer budget and £11k for wages. It was £13k. I'm £335k in the red but don't plan on doing my usual friendlies thing this summer. This season, will hopefully be a successful transition season.

I said I wasn't going to arrange the friendlies. Well I lied. Well I didn't, but seeing my finances and realising that the only way to get junior coaching increased is at the start of the season and with money, I went for it. I didn't have the funds so they rejected it. I'm trying to offload players but to no avail. I have players who are good enough or who I want rid of in my reserves and they shall play the friendlies.